Gay Summer Camp, A Lesbian Fire Chief, Homophobic Baseball Manager, Republicans Bullying Kids

Morning Blogger Friends. Today will be a light blogging day, as I have to do the final preparations for a couple new projects I am working on that are launching this week. I will be blogging more about it in the next couple days, they are both fun projects that are just pure silly and fun to work on. I was reading my daily blog reads yesterday when I came across The Triangle Foundation, one of the state of Michigan's leading organizations dealing with GLBT issues. Triangle Foundation has announced plans for a summer camp for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (GLBT) and allied youth in grades 8-12. The camp, titled Camping.OUT, will take place August 13-18, 2006 and provide a safe place for GLBT youth to participate in the usual camp activities and have an opportunity to learn how to become community leaders. While the camp's primary focus will be the types of fun activities often associated with a youth summer camp, campers will also have the opportunity to participate in group discussions, workshops and activities designed to improve their skills as community leaders. The style of programming the staff of Camping.OUT will be using allows the campers to decide for themselves what they would like to do from a variety of activities being facilitated by the camp’s staff. Jeffrey Montgomery, Executive Director of the Triangle Foundation commented that “This camp is an investment in our community’s future by nurturing a sense of activism and civic consciousness. People are coming out at younger ages and it’s time to provide the youngest in our community with a summer experience that is safe and also empowers them.” How great an idea is this!!! This is how we are going to change peoples perceptions. Educating younger people how to not only deal with and accept their orientation, but give them history to be proud of and a foundation for changing how to get the world more tolerant of the GLBT community. If you or your company donate's to charities at all, please consider going to the Triangle Foundation website and making a donation, earmarked towards camper scholarships to this terrific idea. I am sending a check for $500.00 dollars so I can send one kid to this camp, and am going to apply for a volunteer if they still need any help.

In the news, a 22 year veteran of the San Diego Fire Department is expected to be confirmed as its next chief when city council meets on Monday. Tracy Jarman, and out and open lesbian, was nominated this week by Mayor Jerry Sanders. If as expected council agrees to his choice Jarman will lead a department that includes 928 firefighters, 124 lifeguards, 85 uniformed positions in Emergency Medical Services, and 121 civilians, and manage a budget of $160 million. Jarman is 50 and lives with her domestic partner. She began her career at the department as a recruit, working her way up. Sanders said that she was the unanimous choice of a five-member selection committee that considered over 30 candidates for the position.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says he wasn't trying to insult gays when he hurled a homophobic slur at a Chicago sports writer this week. The verbal attack against Mariotti was caught on tape Tuesday and occurred in front of about 20 other journalists. "What a piece of shit he is, fucking fag,'' Guillen said, referring to Mariotti. Guillen was set off by an article the reporter had written about Guillen's management skills. In his apology Guillen stressed the mea culpa was aimed at Chicago's gay community and did not extend to Mariotti. But many members of the LGBT community are dissatisfied with the apology since it isn't Guillen's first homophobic outburst. Even though the Sox have no plans to penalize Guillen the team's vice president of communications issued a statement distancing the organization from the slur.

And finally, a New York state Sen. Thomas K. Duane (D -Manhattan) blasted Senate Republicans on Wednesday for preventing a bill designed to protect students from bullying from coming to the floor for a vote. With two days left in the 2006 Legislative Session, Senator Duane called on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and his Republican colleagues to release the Dignity for All Students Act from the Education Committee to the full Senate. “There is not a single reason why Senate Republicans are blocking this bill, which would serve to protect our most vulnerable children in public schools throughout New York State from harassment or discrimination,” said Duane. DASA bill would amend the New York Education Law to prohibit harassment against students in school, including harassment based on real or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender (including gender identity and expression) and sex. “I can only guess at the reasons why my Republican colleagues do not want to see this bill pass. Is it the fact that it offers protection from harassment for students based on their gender identity and expression? Until we have a floor debate and vote, I’ll never really know.”

I hope you all enjoy your day today, Summer is officially here, take some time to walk in a park, have a picnic, go to a drive-in movie, or watch the firefly's...GG